Grinding Straight to Level 60 in World of Warcraft

Before I was using various leveling guides, I used to do a combination of questing and grinding to level in World of Warcraft. Questing is ALWAYS faster than grinding but for some who are still in that Everquest “Gotta Grind to 60” mindset, here is some information I’ve had for a long time. Keep in mind this is way before the 2.3 patch. We are talking even pre-burning crusade. Still you could probably make more gold straight grinding from random blue and purple drops. I hope this information is useful. I do not know where most of this information originated but hopefully it will be useful to you. If all else fails, you could always try one of the three guides below to level much faster:

Brian Kopp’s Alliance leveling guide for World of Warcraft
Joana’s Horde Leveling Guide for World of Warcraft
Zygor’s Horde and Alliance Leveling Guides for World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft Grinding Guide - Levels 1 to 60

Level Description

1-15 Alliance Only Elwynn Forest
Goldshire, Farms south of town — Boars
1-15 Alliance Only Loch Modan
1-15 Loch Modan, Thelsamar(33,39) — Boars, Bears and Spiders
10-15 Alliance Only Westfall
Westfall killing the defias smugglers/trappers (do the bandana quest and the first The People’s Militia quest).
12-18 Alliance Only Westfall
Westfall killing the defias smugglers/trappers (do the bandana quest and the first The People’s Militia quest).
12-18 Horde Only The Barrens
The Barrens - Bristleback *
13-16 Horde Only The Barrens
Southsea Pirates south of Ratchet
14-16 Horde Only The Barrens
Pirates south of Ratchet (Barrens)
15-17 Alliance Only Loch Modan
Loch Modan and kill the troggs (shaman/bonesplitters) till 17.
15-20 Horde Only The Barrens
The Barrens - Harpies *
16-18 Horde Only The Barrens
Witchwing Harpies north-west in the Barrens.
18-21 Horde Only The Barrens
Bristleback Quillboars in the Barrens, just north-east of Camp Taurajo. (This is an awesome spot. Get the quests Consumed By Hatred and Lost in Battle from Mankrik in Crossroads and Tribes at War from Mangletooth in Camp Taurajo before you begin.)
18-22 Alliance Only Westfall
Westfall, SouthWest Coast(25,62) — Shore Crawlers.
18-28 Duskwood
Duskwood, Tranquil Gardens & Raven Hill Graveyard, Duskwood. 13000-16000 XP/hour
19-21 Alliance Only Loch Modan
Troggs at the excavation site in Loch Modan till 21. Those guys are really the best that I found. Was getting more than 20k ex/hr doing them from 19-20, and there’s 3 chests that pop in there and 2 rare spawns.
19-22 Horde Only The Barrens
Bramblescar (Barrens) on lizards and quillboars. Unless you’re doing leatherworking, just leave the lizards alone.
20-25 Horde Only The Barrens
The Barrens - Bael Dun Exavs

Bael’dun Excavator (21) 528 HP
Bael’dun Excavator (22) 570 HP

20-25 Hillsbrad Foothills
Hillsbrad - Hillsbrad Farmers (etc)
20-26 Alliance Only Wetlands
Wetlands quests and raptors/slime/orcs for grinding. Redridge mountain Lakeshire quests.
21-22 Stonetalon Mountains
Venture Co. Loggers and Deforesters in Stonetalon Mountains (Horde: do the quests Goblin Invaders and Super Reaper 6000 while you’re at it)
21-24 Duskwood
(Alliance) the tranquil grove in duskwood
22-24 Hillsbrad Foothills
Spiders and Bears around Tarren Mill in Hillsbrad Foothills. You might also do a few of the grinding quests you can gather here while you’re at it.
22-24 Horde Only The Barrens
Bael’dun excavators in Southern Barrens

Bael’dun Excavator (21) 528 HP
Bael’dun Excavator (22) 570 HP

22-24 Hillsbrad Foothills
Tarren Mill (Hillsbrad) on bears and spiders. Dagger crit chain heaven.
22-25 Stonetalon Mountains
Miners inside a cave in Windshear Crag (if this place is as good as some say, I’d go straight here from the Venture Co. guys and wait with the harpies until 25, thanks porcellus)
22-26 Thousand Needles
Thousand Needles - Galak Scouts (etc)
22-29 Hillsbrad Foothills
Hillbrad Foothills — Bears, Spiders, Lions
23-28 Duskwood
(Alliance) Duskwood, West of Town — Ravagers
23-28 Ashenvale
(Alliance) Ashenvale, East Astranaar(48,54) — Shadowhorn Stag
24-26 Duskwood
undead in raven hill cemetary
24-26 Hillsbrad Foothills
Across the road from Tarren Mill on tougher bears and cats. Dagger crit chain heaven.
24-29 Stonetalon Mountains
Bloodfury Harpies in Charred Vale. Horde: Get the quest Harpies Threaten which leads to Bloodfury Bloodline (Elite) from Sun Rock Retreat. The last one requires you to kill a level 30 mob. I soloed her with evasion and a potion at 29, but if you can’t, get someone to help you.
25-30 Thousand Needles
Thousand Needles - Grimtotems
26-26 Wetlands
Dragonmaw Encampment (Wetlands)
26-26 Wetlands
Whelgar’s Excavation Site (Wetlands)
26-28 Hillsbrad Foothills
Spiders/Bears in back of Syndicate tower (Hillsbrad)
26-30 Hillsbrad Foothills
Hillsbrad - Mud Gnolls *
26-30 Duskwood
Duskwood quests and undead for grinding. Hillsbrad critter roamers for grinding.
27-30 the catacombs w/ Plague spreaders/brain eaters
28-28 Alliance Only Duskwood
Rotting Orchard (Duskwood)
28-28 Duskwood
Raven Hill Cemetary (Duskwood)
28-30 Hillsbrad Foothills
Cats and Spiders around Nethander Stead (Hillsbrad)
28-34 Hillsbrad Foothills
Hillsbrad Foothills, River Area — Snapjaw Turtles
29-29 Duskwood
Vul’Gol Ogre Mound (Duskwood)
29-32 Thousand Needles
Screeching Harpies inside and outside the harpy cave west in Thousand Needles.
29-32 Ashenvale
Can be achieved at the Terrorwulf camp near Felwood in Ashenvale. They drop coin but NO CLOTH. They do not run and only do physical damage. There special abilities are Tendon Rip and a 10 second curse that reduces healing effects by 75%.
29-32 Duskwood
Duskwood, Manor Mistmantle. Fetid Corpses. Cleanse the disease you get from time to time. Also a random chestspawn and a boss (Stalvan). 16000-17800 XP/hour
29-37 Dalaran Ruins/Loramere Lake — Turtles
30-32 Thousand Needles
Harpies inside cave (Thousand Needles)
30-35 Hillsbrad Foothills
Did these all in a day on Daggerspines in Hillsbrad right next to Southshore along the coast. Huge spawn, very fast respawn rate, easy mobs to kill. Purgation isle (island in the very far Southwest water area of Hillsbrad) also a nice secluded place you can grind on undead.
30-38 Thousand Needles
Shimmering Flats - All monsters.
31-31 Stranglethorn Vale
Kurzen Encampment (Stranglethorn Vale)
32-34 Desolace
Kolkar Centaurs east in Desolace. Forget about the Battle Lords, but grind the Windchasers, Scouts and Maulers. Add the Destroyers at later levels. You could also do the Kolkar Bounty and Khan Dez’hepah quests if you want to, but I didn’t bother, mostly because of the long traveling distances.
33-33 Stranglethorn Vale
Stranglethorn Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
33-33 Alterac Mountains
Growless Cave (Alterac Mountains)
33-34 Arathi Highlands
Arathi Highlands, Boulderfist Outpost. Boulderfist Ogres. Stay outside the cave, going around in circles. Don’t engage the trolls. You should find a rhythm soon enough, there are enough Ogres here (though at first it seems you kill too fast for the respawns) 18200-20500 XP/hour
33-37 Stranglethorn Vale
STV - venture co. geologists (careful, big traffic area)
34-34 Alterac Mountains
Gallow’s Corner (Crushridge Ogres - Altarac Mountains)
34-34 Alterac Mountains
Witherbark Village (Arathi Mountains)
34-36 Alterac Mountains
Grind on Mountain and Giant Yetis and Crushridge Orgre in Alterac Mountains. You can also head into Strahnbrad that’s to the west of the Ruins of Alterac and kill the Syndicate mobs, but I didn’t like it.
34-40 Stranglethorn Vale
Venture Co. Geologists in Stranglethorn Vale. Use kick when they’ve wasted time on their lightning bolt spell, then kill them. You’ll hate these guys at 40, trust me. Also, you’ll get Honored reputation status with Booty Bay. Wohoo!
35-36 Alterac Mountains
Alterac Mountains, Gallow’s Corner. Crushridge Ogres & Brutes. Do both sides of the ruined tower, plenty of Ogres here. 21500 XP/hour
35-40 Alterac Mountains
Alterac ogres from 35-40 for grinding
36-36 Stranglethorn Vale
Venture Co. Base Camp (Lake Nazferiti - Stranglethorn Vale)
36-37 Dustwallow Marsh
NE of Brackenwall (2 min run there)- Raptor den 36-37 raptors there - lots of them
36-38 Badlands
(for casters) Rock Elementals near Kargath,Badland
36-38 Desolace
Desolace quests and kodo grinding
36-39 Arathi Highlands
Drywhisker kobolds in Arathi east of Hammerfall for 36-39 for grinding.
36-40 Hillsbrad Foothills
Hillsbrad southshore quests.
36-40 Deadwind Pass
Grind on Water Elementals on the island NW of Grom’Gol
36-40 Arathi Highlands
Grind on Highland Fleshstalkers in Arathi Highlands. There’s a quest chain that requires you to farm the Fleshstalkers at the end, and the quest item has a low drop rate (something like 1 in every 5 or 6 kills)
37-37 Stranglethorn Vale
Lashtail Raptors (Stranglethorn Vale)
37-37 Stranglethorn Vale
Water Elementals (Stranglethorn Vale)
37-38 Badlands
Badlands, Dustbowl. Lesser Rock Elementals (37-39). These are no humanoids, but they are Blizzard’s gift to grinders. Nice XP, no hitpoints, no risk and very good gold/hour. There are also quests for these, pick them up for some free XP. A repair vendor can be found in the center of the Badlands. 21500-22500 XP/hour
37-41 Arathi Highlands
Cresting exiles at the circle of outer binding in Arathi also for 37-41; extremely easy mobs with a fast respawn.
37-42 Theramore — Turtles
37-42 Swamp of Sorrows
Swamp of Sorrows, the Misty Valley. The Swampwalkers/Elder ones/Terror things there hit soft, have medium HP, low armour, but do have a druid renew type thing they pop at about 400hp left, but you can easily out DPS their heal if you forget to kick them. They drop a fair amount of silver, a wide range of herbs (including swiftthistle, and fadeleaf) and a fair ammount of greens.
38-40 Dustwallow Marsh
Dustwallow Swamp - Very North East Islands, Murlock Warriors/Oracles.
38-40 Desolace
Undead Ravagers in the southeast
39-39 Dustwallow Marsh
The spider cave north of Brackenwall (Dustwallow Marsh)
39-39 Badlands
Rock Elementals (Badlands)
39-39 Badlands
Elder Crag Coyotes (Badlands)
39-41 Badlands
Badlands, Mirage Flats. Rock Elementals (38-40) and Greater Rock Elementals. This spot of Elementals is farmed a lot less than the other one. It can be found in the mountains in the south of the Badlands. 21500 XP/hour at level 39. 28500-29500 XP/hour at level 40-41.
39-41 Badlands
Dustbelcher Maulers and Shaman. In shadowform, PW:F up, pull with mind blast. Backing up, hit SW:P, Mind Flay once, then continue backing up until mind blast comes up again cast it and wand once. You’re now at the ~10s mark, if the mob has >250 health wand it again. If not just start heading to the next mob and let the first one run in fear. You should be ready to cast Mind Blast again just as the timer comes around on it, about 20s into the first attack. Repeat. ~35000 XP/hr
39-42 Dustwallow Marsh
Duskwallow Swamp spider Cave NW of Horde Village. Spiders have dot, but good money
40-42 Desolace
Skeletons in Desolace. They’re about the only squishies I could find to grind on. It’s part of an Alliance quest, so the usual PvP warnings apply.
40-44 Badlands
Scalding Whelps east in Badlands. The north spot. The spot north of the elite dragons These guys are cool. They also have a infinitesimal shot at dropping a Dark Whelpling, which will help you in your quest to get laid.
40-44 Tanaris
Wastewander Thieves/Bandits/Buddies/.. in Tanaris. These guys drop also some pouches that you can give to some guy in Gadgetzan for a small experience bonus. This place has been crawling with players every time I’ve been there, though.
40-46 Feralas
Feralas - Woodpaws (stay away from the ones that disease for slow casting speeds) **
41-41 Badlands
Scalding Whelps (Badlands)
41-41 Badlands
Agmond’s End (Badlands)
41-41 Stranglethorn Vale
Ziata’jai Ruins (Venture Co. Stuff, Stranglethorn Vale)
41-43 Feralas
Grimtotem Compound (Feralas - Low 40s, not absolutely sure)
41-45 The Hinterlands
Hinterlands trolls, owl beasts, and wolves for grinding and quests. Badlands ogres, gnolls, and quests.
42-42 Feralas
Feralas, Gordunni Outpost. Gordunni Ogres, Brutes and Ogre Mages (40-43). Grind in the latter part of the compound, making slight advances into the cave once you run out of Ogres outside. 29500-30000 XP/hour
42-45 Stranglethorn Vale
Jungle Stalkers in SV. The loot drop isn’t nearly as good as the Lashtails, but they’re as squishy as ever. Also, they don’t seem to have the knockdown attack that the lashtails do. Virtually no one kills these guys on my server, and they’re easily chainable.
43-43 Stranglethorn Vale
Naga Explorers (Stranglethorn Vale)
43-43 Tanaris
Wastewander Bandits (Tanaris)
43-45 Feralas
Feralas, Ruins of Isildien. Gordunni Brutes, Maulers and Warlocks (42-44). 30000-30500 XP/hour
43-45 Feralas
Feralas, Ruins of Isildien. Gordunni Brutes, Maulers and Warlocks (42-44). 30000-30500 XP/hour
44-44 Feralas
Isle of Dread (Feralas - Inside Cave; South of Feathermoon Stronghold)
44-46 Badlands
Dustbelcher Ogres inside the cave southwest in Badlands, just south of Kargath. There’s a couple of respawnable chests here as well.
44-46 Tanaris
Pirates through the cave in Tanaris, by the east coast.
44-50 Tanaris
Tanaris, Steamweedle Port — Steeljaw Snappers
45-45 Feralas
Feral Scar Vale (Feralas)
45-48 Tanaris
Tanaris quests and pirates on the eastern paninsula for grinding. Stranglethorn vale quests (only if you need rewards imo). Badlands greater elementals for grinding.<
46-48 Feralas
Frayfeather Skystormers (not the other birds) south in Feralas.
46-48 Feralas
Feralas - Frayfeather Skystormers *
47-47 Azshara
Undead in Western Ashzara (Azshara)
47-47 Tanaris
Dunemaul Compound (Tanaris)
47-47 Searing Gorge
Elementals/Golems around The Cauldron + N of it (Searing Gorge)
48-50 Feralas
Feralas - Harpies
48-51 Feralas
Northspring Harpies northwest in Feralas. Closer to Shadowprey Village than Camp Whatever.
48-51 Revantusk Village — Turtles
48-51 Tanaris
Southwest of Gadgetzan - Thistleshrubs *
48-52 Feralas
Felwood deadwood gnolls for grinding and quests from the sanctuary in the south. Blasted lands dreadmauls for grinding. Un’goro crater (best started at 50) for primarily quests and grinding off the plants and tar elementals. Azshara undead highbornes and thunderhead hyppogriffs for grinding.
49-50 Tanaris
Tanaris, Thistleshrub Valley. Thistleshrub Rootshapers, Gnarled Thistleshrubs & Thistleshrub Dew Collectors (47-50) 32500-34000 XP/hour. You badly need the slight increase in XP here, so be glad about it. These are also great for grinding, especially for Alchemists. No HP, no damage and decent greenie drop rate.
50-50 Felwood
Deadwood Village (Felwood)
50-54 Western Plaguelands
Western Plaguelands - First ‘field’ to the left, assorted monsters.
51-51 Western Plaguelands
This is where I suggest doing two awesome quest chains. Namely, the Scourge Cauldrons chain in Western Plaguelands (starts with Scarlet Diversions in The Bulwark) and Stealing Knowledge in Azshara. You will need a 60 buddy to help you with the cauldrons chain. Grind the rest of the level on Satyrs, also in Azshara.
51-51 Azshara
Ruins of Eldarath (Azshara)
51-53 Un’Goro Crater
Un’Goro crater. Tar Lords & Lurkers (lvl 50-54) & Un’GoroQuests. 35000-37000 XP/hour
51-54 Azshara
Azshara — Legashi Satyr
52-52 Burning Steppes
Dreadmaul Rock (Firegut Ogres - Burning Steppes)
52-52 Azshara
Legash Encampment, Thalassian Base Camp, Ursolan (Azshara)
52-52 Felwood
Jaedenar (Felwood)
52-52 Western Plaguelands
Sorrow Hill (Western Plaguelands)
52-55 Azshara
Azshara blood elves for grinding. Burning steppes dreadmaul rock ogre caves firegut ogres (very low AC) for grinding. Felwood irontree woods and cave for grinding (great spot). Western plaguelands questing for argent dawn and grinding on undead throughout the various camps.
52-56 Azshara
Blood Elves in Azshara. This place was usually taken when I got here, but if you kill faster than everybody else they’ll eventually leave (at least they did on all occasions when I got here).
52-56 Western Plaguelands
Western Plaguelands, undead at farms
52-60 Eastern Dire Maul - Lashers ****
53-53 Felwood
Ironwood Trees in northern Felwood
54-54 Azshara
Temple of Arkkoran (Azshara)
54-55 Western Plaguelands
Western Plaguelands & Eastern Plaguelands. Fordring questline starting quests, Cauldron quests, grinding on the first Cauldron field. Also Felwood quests. 34000-35000 XP/hour.
54-60 Western Plaguelands
Western Plaguelands - Scarlet Lumberjacks
54-60 Winterspring
Winterspring — Ghosts
55-55 Felwood
Jadefire Run, Felpaw Village (Felwood)
55-55 Western Plaguelands
Felstone Field, Dalson’s Tears, The Writhing Haunt, Gahrron’s Withering (Western Plaguelands)
55-56 Winterspring
Winterspring. Yetis. Nuff said. Also several worthwile quests here. around 34000 XP/hour
55-58 Eastern Plaguelands
Eastern plaguelands quests from the sanctuary, grinding on undead at the ruined towns. Winterspring grinding at winterfall village or Lake Kel’Theril undead highbornes (my personal favorite camp). Blackrock Stronghold in Burning Steppes for grinding.
56-56 Western Plaguelands
Northridge Lumber Camp (Western Plaguelands)
56-56 Eastern Plaguelands
Corin’s Crossing (Eastern Plaguelands)
56-56 Burning Steppes
The Pillar of Ash (Burning Steppes)
56-56 Winterspring
Winterfall Village (Winterspring)
56-58 Winterspring
winterspring ghosts, Winterspring quests
56-60 Burning Steppes
Blackrock Stronghold in Burning Steppes. This place can be hard at first, but once you get the routine in it’s awesome and you’ll pull around 50k/hr here. At 56 you’ll be getting Blade Flurry, which is awesome for some of the two-man groups inside the Stronghold itself.
57-57 Eastern Plaguelands
Eastern Plaguelands. Fordring questline continuation, endgame instance prereqs, Dire Maul East+Quests, BRD+ quests for the Onyxia key. 20000-30000 XP/hour
57-57 Burning Steppes
Blackrock Stronghold (Burning Steppes) - probably the best place to grind for a rogue; however, you do have to get used to how the roamers work. You’ll probably die a few times along the way while learning them.
57-57 Winterspring
Ice Thistle Hills (Wintespring) - Rugged Leathers
58-60 Winterspring
The yeti cave in Winterspring, due Southeast of Everlook (very nice place). Grosh Gok compound ogres in Deadwind pass (great spot, no one knows about it). Eastern plaguelands Fungal Vale undead grinding and argent dawn token farming. Moonowls in northeast winterspring for grinding.
58-60 Eastern Plaguelands
Eastern Plaguelands, Corin’s crossing, various quests
58-60 Endgame instances in 5-man parties, with the respective quests.

Hope it helps. This information was compiled from the World of Warcraft forums over the past couple years. A hearty thanks to all of the various forum contributors over the years!

BANS website creator!